In the original story, Shino's mother had never been mentioned. But seeing her now, dressed in the same mirrored sunglasses as the rest of the clan, it was clear she was a full-blooded member of the Aburame.
Makes sense, really. Whether they intermarried with outsiders or not, just the fact that the Aburame raised bugs was enough to scare off most women. If they didn't marry within the clan, who else could they marry?
Fortunately, despite their seemingly aloof appearance, Shino's parents were incredibly warm and welcoming. Especially since Natsuki and TenTen were Shino's friends—they were so enthusiastic, it was almost overwhelming.
What made it worse was that Shino's mother liked to tease them, calling them a good match and sighing about whether Shino would ever find someone. In the end, Shino was burning red, and Natsuki and TenTen were so embarrassed they nearly started digging into the floor with their toes.
Natsuki had no choice but to use his Topic Diversion no Jutsu and redirected the conversation to food.
"Wow! Oba-san, this dish is amazing—how did you make it?"
"Wow! This winter melon soup is so good—no wonder Shino likes winter melon so much. It's all thanks to your cooking!"
"Oba-san, I saw pumpkins growing in your garden. Did you know you can cook with pumpkin flowers and pumpkin vines too? If you peel the skin off the vines and stir-fry them with lean meat, it's delicious. And pumpkin flowers? Perfect for tempura..."
Before they knew it, Natsuki and Shino's mom were chatting away like old friends. As expected, two cooks always had something to talk about.
By the end of the meal, Shino and TenTen were exhausted—mentally and physically.
Meanwhile, Natsuki had learned quite a few new cooking tricks. And before they left, Shino's mom even stuffed him with two baskets of fresh vegetables. Her enthusiasm was unstoppable.
Natsuki carried the two heavy baskets as he walked home with TenTen.
As soon as they got back, TenTen couldn't help but laugh. "Natsuki, I never expected you and Oba-san to get along so well. Shino and I could barely keep up!"
Natsuki didn't mind. "That's just how aunties are. As long as you steer the conversation and match their pace, it's fine. She probably doesn't get many people to talk about cooking with. Having someone to share her passion with? Of course she'd want to chat. Better that than being teased about us."
TenTen blushed, remembering the "perfect couple" comment from Shino's mom.
Natsuki, meanwhile, rummaged through the basket and suddenly lit up.
"TenTen, she gave us pumpkin vines and flowers! Let's make pumpkin vine soup with lean meat tonight. Your dad's gonna love it. Oh, and do you know how to make tempura? You could use the pumpkin flowers. It's delicious!"
"Tempura? Yeah, I know how to make that."
TenTen, caught up in the excitement, started checking the baskets too.
By evening, they carried a basket of vegetables back to TenTen's house and got to work.
Seeing this, the shopkeeper uncle beamed with joy. He was starting to like Natsuki more and more. In fact, he was beginning to feel like he was watching his future son-in-law. When he learned the two weren't officially dating yet, he even got a little anxious.
In this day and age, geniuses were rare and highly sought after—he couldn't let this one get away.
That night, the pumpkin vine soup and pumpkin flower tempura were a huge hit. They all praised the dishes, and Natsuki and TenTen even joked about asking Shino to bring more next time.
After dinner, the shopkeeper glanced at the dark sky outside and, for the first time, said, "It's already dark. Your house is pretty far, and it's not safe to walk around at night. Just stay here tonight."
Natsuki was stunned. "Wait—are you serious, shopkeeper-san?"
The shopkeeper's face darkened. "You want me to say it again? Kid, I'm worried you'll get snatched up out there. Things haven't been calm in the village lately. You'd better be careful. But I'm warning you—don't even think about sneaking into TenTen's room. If I catch you, I'll break your legs!"
With that, he shut the shop door and went back to his room.
Natsuki and TenTen were left standing there, staring at each other in silence, their cheeks slowly turning red with awkwardness... and a hint of something else.
But the shopkeeper wasn't wrong.
Lately, tensions between the Uchiha clan and the village leadership had become increasingly unstable. It felt like a primed explosive tag waiting to go off. Even ordinary villagers could sense the pressure in the air. Some loose-tongued villagers whispered that the village had assigned shinobi to watch the Uchiha compound, and the clan's members were being recalled from outside missions.
It was a clear sign—conflict was coming.
No one even knew if Shisui was still alive.
Under those circumstances, it really wasn't safe for Natsuki to walk home at night. Who knew when that weasel would make his move?
"Natsuki? Natsuki! Don't space out. I'll take you to your room."
TenTen snapped him back to reality and led him to a guest room. She even helped lay out the bedding with surprising care.
Though her face remained flushed—probably from the thought of Natsuki sleeping in her house—she quickly returned to her usual composed self and got everything ready.
Natsuki didn't refuse. After washing up, he lay down to rest.
But not long after, the door creaked open in the darkness. A small figure cautiously stepped in, carrying a dim lantern.
As the soft light illuminated the room, he saw it was none other than twin-tailed TenTen.
"Shh! Quiet, don't let my dad hear."
She slipped in like a thief, quietly closed the door, and sat on the edge of the bed, clearly hesitant but saying nothing for a while.
Natsuki glanced at her pajamas and couldn't help but tease, "TenTen, isn't this pace a little fast for us?"
TenTen's face went crimson. She shot him a glare and whispered, "In your dreams! I just wanted to have a quiet talk about training. I didn't know where to start, that's all. Don't get the wrong idea!"
You come sneaking in, wearing pajamas, acting all bashful... how am I not supposed to get the wrong idea?
If we weren't still so young, who knows what might've happened...
Thankfully, TenTen quickly gathered her thoughts.
"Natsuki, after training with you these past few months, my physical strength has definitely improved. My chakra's been growing slowly, and I've gotten better at controlling it. I even learned a few of your jutsu. Most importantly, I've mastered summoning, and I've gotten really familiar with several types of ninja tools..."
Natsuki listened quietly, waiting for her to finish laying the groundwork.
"But now... I feel like I've hit a bottleneck. I'm still too young to undergo intense training, so my chakra development has stalled. Meanwhile, you're getting more and more amazing. I'm worried I'll be left behind. I—I don't want that. I want to be by your side. But I'm just not strong enough. Can you help me think of a way...?"
Natsuki understood instantly.
Even though she was training hard alongside her two closest friends, their progress had left hers in the dust. Especially with Natsuki becoming more and more of a genius, TenTen felt like she couldn't even see his back anymore. Of course she'd feel anxious.
And now, she could only turn to Natsuki for help.
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